Former Alaskan Gov. Sarah Palin left office with a signature attack on the media in which she accused of making up stories against the military and persecuting her family. There was no mention of the various Republicans describing her as an embarrassment or former McCain staffers describing her as a living nightmare. It comes down to the media and their war on America.
Palin told a largely worshipful crowd:
“So how about in honor of the American soldier, you quit making up things. And don’t underestimate the wisdom of the people. And one other thing for the media — our new governor has a very nice family, too, so leave his kids alone,.”
It was not clear what stories were made up. There are of course those stories that the military made up like the death of Pat Tillman and the rescue of Pvt. Jessica Lynch. Moreover, if the new governor wants to keep his family private, he might want to avoid making both his faith and his family critical components of his campaign. While all candidates contend to parade their families before crowds, Palin campaigned on her devout faith and small-town values. Complaining about all of the attention directed on her family would be like former Sen. Gary Hart complaining about all of the media attention on his sex life — after inviting such attention. To Hart’s credit, he did not blame the media and simply left the public stage.
Palin’s recent speeches seem to be a search for the best villain to explain her leaving her office early to pursue personal and professional priorities.
She might be right, however, about the wisdom of the American people. A recent poll shows her popularity continuing to crater with citizens. Fifty-three percent have a negative view of Palin and 57 percent of Americans do not believe that she understands complex issues. Her numbers among Republicans and Independents also continue to fall and Republican leaders seem to be lining up to distance themselves and their party from her.
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so…. somewhere…I can’t remember where I found this yesterday … it is rumored that the Palins are divorcing.
so far it has not shown up in the conventional media… but both parties accused each other of marital infidelity and SP has removed her wedding ring and plans to relocate to idaho.
stay tuned. this could replace jon and kate plus 8.
and give schadenfreude new meaning.
GWLSM,
We pretty much agree, especially about patients healing. When I went into my own therapy I had always known I had some problems, but by the same token I could always fool the adults around me into thinking I was okay. I became a patient of Gestalt therapy because I felt that it was a modality suited for me that wouldn’t allow me to fool the therapist. While I had a terrific therapist I also worked very hard on doing what I needed to do to change and would apply my lessons not just in therapy sessions, but during the rest of of my week. It got so that I would come in and barely need the therapist to do my work.
After five years he told me he thought I would make a great therapist and that was when I started to train at an institute. For me personally therapy has changed my life immensely, but I think mainly because I was motivated. When I was in private practice I felt that many people came into therapy with the expectation that the therapist would make them better and were unwilling to put their own work into it. When I co-created a training program in Gestalt practice for people who were already practitioners and wanted to add to their repertoire, my partner and I were shocked by how many of these successful therapists had issues they had never resolved. for these two reasons I began to dislike private practice, weened myself of it and gave my partner the training program.
I became a social services executive and liked that work much better. After retiring from the City I worked for non-profits and ran housing and case management programs for Axis I patients and for dual diagnosis patients. I loved that work, but hated many of the psychiatrists I had to deal with due to their incapability of looking beyond the diagnosis and seeing the person, or as you stated it:
“me: the ability to do a solid differential diagnosis may be a lost art but one that that I value above all other areas of psychological work. the big question here is: are these symptoms better accounted for if one looks at lifestyle? for instance…. how many folks are misdiagnosed because no one asked them how much coffee they drink or how they get their adult sexual needs met or how they view the value of work or what kinds of medication do they take?”
As for your sharing your personal experiences that would be nice, but only if you were comfortable. As you can see I am open about myself at points to a fault. It drives my wife crazy. My reasons are simple though and I don’t expect that other people should do as I do. I grew up in a home and in the context of a large family that had many hidden secrets. It got me paranoid and even now with people dead there are some things I’ll never know. My reaction to it, neurotic if you will, was to be open about myself and not feel I had to hide anything. I am who I purport to be, but trust me I know myself well enough to see the irony of some of my aspects and to understand my basic motivations. The other part is that I feel proud of myself and the life I’ve led and I like writing about it. Is some of that ego, yes it is and I have a healthy one. Its’ just that I’ve never gotten off imposing my ego on others.
So feel free to share, or not, as the mood strikes you. I remain the garrulous (with all its’ connotations)old fart that I am, but conclude with the fact I think we agree on most things psychological.
Mike S writes: GWLSM,
I agree with your adding political to the mix and will trump you with economic, which I already know you’ve got. While I do believe in psychotherapy, psychology and psychiatry in the sense they can provide help, my experience with mental health professionals leads me to believe that perhaps only 40% of them get it and have also dealt with their own issues. The remaining 60% is made up of greedy people, charlatans and people who should heal themselves before trying to heal others.
me: I used to think that therapy/analysis could really heal, could really change and now I think that the best it can do is shine a light on behaviors and its up to the client/patient to act in a way that reflects their desire for change. as for many of the therapists out there that I know…. I think that many of them were long time clients and decided at some point that they wanted to switch chairs and be in charge of the clock and kleenex.
Mike: You brought up something else that also bugs me which is the quick judgments being made on children adding conditions like you said:
“in the past few years disorders that were not seen before in children like Bipolar disorder and schizophrenia suddenly popped up out of nowhere”
I strongly distrust these diagnoses and do believe that behind them are drug companies buying of Physicians, in ways that allows the Physician to believe they’re doing what’s best for the child. I also distrust the amount of children being diagnosed with ADHD and given Ritalin and other harmful drugs, in addition to carrying a stigma that will last through their lives and convince them that they are damaged.
me: the ability to do a solid differential diagnosis may be a lost art but one that that I value above all other areas of psychological work. the big question here is: are these symptoms better accounted for if one looks at lifestyle? for instance…. how many folks are misdiagnosed because no one asked them how much coffee they drink or how they get their adult sexual needs met or how they view the value of work or what kinds of medication do they take?
Mike: I was a very bright student, with reading scores off the charts in Elementary School. I was reading adult material at eight and had to get my parent’s permission so that i could take adult books out of the library across the street from my house. Along with that was the ability to read and comprehend at twice the normal speed, so I went through books fairly quickly. I was bored to tears in school and tended to act out to get attention and had a lot of fights with other kids, who thought me weird, since I spoke with an adult’s vocabulary. Luckily it was the 50’s and the whole ADHD phenomena hadn’t arrived on the scene or they might have tried to drug me.
Me: I was alot like you. bright but bored. never had fights but never had a reason to excel academically. 10 year olds with fabulous vocabularies were not the norm and I was routinely questioned for plagiarizing book reports and had to prove that my work was original.
Mike: I see this phenomena happening with kids today and it is a source of anger for me. It is stupid, has little factual basis from a true experimental perspective and is driven by the drug companies who sponsor self-serving tests. I’m so glad I’ve gotten out of the mental health business, because as someone with these opinions I was making a lot of people angry. Because of my outspokenness I was considered a troublemaker and I guess from their perspective they were right.
me: I get really pissed off when I see bright kids who just don’t fit into the over crowded classroom model put on drugs to make them more malleable. I also get ticked off when I see kids who are over scheduled going from school to karate, to gymnastics, to drama classes and music classes and then homework and then bed with little time to just nitz around the house or curl up with a book or lay on the grass and watch the clouds. no wonder they are anxious and depressed. my big problem with the mental health world is that it tends to blame parents unjustly from a theoretical standpoint and lets them off the hook from a behavioral one. some time I’ll tell you about my background. unlike you, I do miss my work and was happiest and most fulfilled then even if I was incredibly frustrated at times.
GWLSM,
I agree with your adding political to the mix and will trump you with economic, which I already know you’ve got. While I do believe in psychotherapy, psychology and psychiatry in the sense they can provide help, my experience with mental health professionals leads me to believe that perhaps only 40% of them get it and have also dealt with their own issues. The remaining 60% is made up of greedy people, charlatans and people who should heal themselves before trying to heal others.
You brought up something else that also bugs me which is the quick judgments being made on children adding conditions like you said:
“in the past few years disorders that were not seen before in children like Bipolar disorder and schizophrenia suddenly popped up out of nowhere”
I strongly distrust these diagnoses and do believe that behind them are drug companies buying of Physicians, in ways that allows the Physician to believe they’re doing what’s best for the child. I also distrust the amount of children being diagnosed with ADHD and given Ritalin and other harmful drugs, in addition to carrying a stigma that will last through their lives and convince them that they are damaged.
I was a very bright student, with reading scores off the charts in Elementary School. I was reading adult material at eight and had to get my parent’s permission so that i could take adult books out of the library across the street from my house. Along with that was the ability to read and comprehend at twice the normal speed, so I went through books fairly quickly. I was bored to tears in school and tended to act out to get attention and had a lot of fights with other kids, who thought me weird, since I spoke with an adult’s vocabulary. Luckily it was the 50’s and the whole ADHD phenomena hadn’t arrived on the scene or they might have tried to drug me.
I see this phenomena happening with kids today and it is a source of anger for me. It is stupid, has little factual basis from a true experimental perspective and is driven by the drug companies who sponsor self-serving tests. I’m so glad I’ve gotten out of the mental health business, because as someone with these opinions I was making a lot of people angry. Because of my outspokenness I was considered a troublemaker and I guess from their perspective they were right.
Slart writes: was wondering if you meant that Tina Fey was gifted in the sense of her comedy talents or gifted in the sense that the comedy gods smiled upon her by making the most easily mocked political figure in the world look exactly like her… (I agree with both).
Tina Fey was gifted by the comedy gods for certain… and she was also blessed with a way to make certain that this gift would be celebrated with the birth of sarah palin. it’s like all the stars were in alignment. and Tina wins
Mike S writes: That is the weakness of the DSM, in that you can observe carefully and two intelligent people can come up with different diagnoses. It is a cobbled together work, that is the result of politics in equal measure to science. The DSM II for instance defined homosexuality as a disorder. There was some fight over changing that one in the 70’s.
me: one could argue that the DSM is a political document also. I always thought it was. in the past few years disorders that were not seen before in children like Bipolar disorder and schizophrenia suddenly popped up out of nowhere… until one looked at the medications being developed for kids whose depressive states looked entirely different from depressed adults.
Mike: Too many psychiatric diagnoses are done upon admission to an in-patient psychiatric facility, when the patient is in “extremis” and lazily not refined after the patient calms down. Also too many psychiatric patients become familiar with their diagnosis and use it as a justification for their behavior. I used to try to get patients to understand that a diagnosis is merely a shorthand for MHP’s, in order to talk to each other about symptoms and that the you the patient are not your diagnosis. Sorry to get so serious on you, it’s not so directed, but is aimed at the whole damned psychiatric and psychological profession. The hypocrisy, combined with the smugness of many professionals/administrators within it, make me glad I’m no longer involved.
me: not to worry. I’m with you on this.
MIke: How about we split the difference and just agree the woman is seriously nuts.
me: yeah. sure. how about Mixed Axis II with features of media/hollywood/government paranoia
“I was thinking hystrionic with narcissistic features. she doesn’t seem to have the chaotic relationships or engage in cutting or drug taking. hystrionic works with regard to her need for attention and her rages are certainly narcissistic.”
GWLSM,
That is the weakness of the DSM, in that you can observe carefully and two intelligent people can come up with different diagnoses. It is a cobbled together work, that is the result of politics in equal measure to science. The DSM II for instance defined homosexuality as a disorder. There was some fight over changing that one in the 70’s.
When I was directing Psychiatric Programs, after I retired from NYC, I used to caution my workers about diagnoses we would get on patients coming in to us from lock-in mental facilities. It was necessary to explain to them that a psychiatric diagnosis is always a work in progress, to be refined by the ongoing influx of facts as we worked with a patient. Then to through the years it seems that mental health professionals have sort of a “diagnosis de jour” in that certain diagnosis become popular at different times. In the 70’s and 80’s it was Borderline. Bi-Polar is big in this past decade.
Too many psychiatric diagnoses are done upon admission to an in-patient psychiatric facility, when the patient is in “extremis” and lazily not refined after the patient calms down. Also too many psychiatric patients become familiar with their diagnosis and use it as a justification for their behavior. I used to try to get patients to understand that a diagnosis is merely a shorthand for MHP’s, in order to talk to each other about symptoms and that the you the patient are not your diagnosis. Sorry to get so serious on you, it’s not so directed, but is aimed at the whole damned psychiatric and psychological profession. The hypocrisy, combined with the smugness of many professionals/administrators within it, make me glad I’m no longer involved.
How about we split the difference and just agree the woman is seriously nuts.
Mike S writes: GWLSM,
I’m thinking Borderline Personality Disorder.
I was thinking hystrionic with narcissistic features. she doesn’t seem to have the chaotic relationships or engage in cutting or drug taking.
hystrionic works with regard to her need for attention and her rages are certainly narcissistic.
“Compared to her Bush looks almost intelligent and that goes a long way.”
Harsh.
True, but harsh. Not that The Flying Wolf Killer doesn’t have it coming. That speech was one of the dumbest moments I’ve ever witnessed in a political life. I was *almost* embarrassed for her. But not quite.
“so… you saw that display of a goodbye scene right? what came to mind for you? for me it was Axis II alert !! Axis II alert!!”
GWLSM,
I’m thinking Borderline Personality Disorder.
http://www.behavenet.com/capsules/disorders/borderlinepd.htm
To my mind she meets 7 of the 9 diagnostic criteria and I can’t tell about the other two because I don’t know her well enough.
Slartibartfast,
Compared to her Bush looks almost intelligent and that goes a long way.
GWLSM,
I saw (and enjoyed) both the Daily Show and Countdown last night and I agree that as long as she stays in the public eye (little chance of that happening ;-)) she’ll provide late night comedians enviable job security in these troubled times. I was wondering if you meant that Tina Fey was gifted in the sense of her comedy talents or gifted in the sense that the comedy gods smiled upon her by making the most easily mocked political figure in the world look exactly like her… (I agree with both).
Mike S,
I used to think that she wasn’t stupid, she was just unengaged like W, but after watching her resignation and farewell speeches it’s getting harder to deny that she’s not exactly a master of logical thought and rational discourse…
MIke S writes: Most of them are smarter, better people then Sarah and Todd. What makes her so different is that she is a truly dumb person, narcissistically inclined, who thinks she’s smart.
True dumbness is the inability to have any idea of one’s limitations. This is indicated in her penchant for blaming everyone else for her failings, like Charlie Gibson for asking her what the Bush Doctrine was, or Katie Couric asking what periodicals she read.
so… you saw that display of a goodbye scene right? what came to mind for you? for me it was Axis II alert !! Axis II alert !!
slart writes: Not to mention the boon she is to the late night comedy industry…
if you saw Jon Stewart… if you watched Lawrence O’Donnell sitting in for Keith Olbermann last night… this is and has been and will continue to be a huge laff riot. of course I’ve commented before on the uncanny resemblance La Palin bears to Tina Fey probably the most gifted comedian anywhere. I hope TF doesn’t grow weary of drinking from this fount of funny for a long long time.
“They’ll likely never see Russia again unless you can see it from NYC or LA.”
rcampbell,
Your comment brings to mind that the whole family would make a great comedy show, in the Big City, ala “The Beverly Hillbillies.” Actually, why bother with scripted comedy, when you could do it as unscripted reality. This is not a knock by the way on real people who live in trailers, poverty and/or rural areas. Most of them are smarter, better people then Sarah and Todd. What makes her so different is that she is a truly dumb person, narcissistically inclined, who thinks she’s smart.
True dumbness is the inability to have any idea of one’s limitations. This is indicated in her penchant for blaming everyone else for her failings, like Charlie Gibson for asking her what the Bush Doctrine was, or Katie Couric asking what periodicals she read.
rafflaw,
Not to mention the boon she is to the late night comedy industry…
I sure hope Sarah keeps running for national public office because her mere presence on the ticket will guarantee a win for any Democrat.
She should become an army of clones. Then she’ll have an incredibly insipid army to offer as her blood money admission back into the Neocon Empire.
You betcha!